SEPT 27Â Yesterday, in a cynical move, the sponsors of the Senate Orphan Works Act passed their controversial bill by a controversial practice known as hotlining.

With lawmakers scrambling to raise 700 billion dollars to bail out businesses that are “too big to fail,” the Senate passed a bill that would force small copyright holders to subsidize big internet interests such as Google, which has already said it plans to use millions of the images this bill will orphan.

IWith the meltdown on Wall Street, this is no time for Congress to concentrate our nation’s copyright wealth in the hands of a few privately owned corporate databases. The contents of these databases would be more valuable than secure banking information. Yet this bill would compel creators to risk their own intellectual property to supply content to these corporate business models. That means it would be our assets at risk in the event of their failure or mismanagement.

As David Rhodes, President of the School of Visual Arts has said, the Orphan Works bill would socialize the expense of copyright protection while privatizing the profit of creative endeavors. Copyright owners neither want nor need this legislation. It will do great harm to small businesses. We already have a banking crisis. Congress should not lay the groundwork for a copyright crisis.

–Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, for the Illustrators’ Partnership

NOW FOR PLAN B

We MUST try to stop the House Judiciary Committee from folding their bill (HR5889) and adopting the Senate version.

PLEASE EMAIL CONGRESS TODAY.

If you’ve done it before, do it again!

It takes only a minute to use our new special letter.
Click on the link below, enter your zip code, and take the next steps.
Thanks to all ofÂ you who heeded the call to action yesterday.

Over 70 organizations oppose this bill, representing over half a million creators. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, songwriters, musicians, and countless licensing firms all believe this bill will harm their small businesses.

The Capwiz site is open to professional creators and any member of the image-making public.Â International artists will find a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write.

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com Place “Add Name” in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

Please post or forward this email to any interested party.

Back to Diane: I am going to be away for several days – for longer than I have been away from home for over 11 1/2 years … so I am pretty excited. I am hoping to get some real healing … but certainly rest.Â I decided to not post ahead … that perhaps absence will make your heart grow fonder …Â I so much appreciate my online friends … you mean a LOT to me and I take you in my heart.

Illustration Friday has a challenge every week. This week is Packed. Notice this Packed is sort of beautiful even though it is Packed.Â Actually, I think it is quite lovely!Â Illustration Friday is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! I encourage you to check it out! Lots of fun people and paintings! Thank you for stopping by!

I like to enter the 2 Things Challenge each week. This week is Green / Blue. This is my entry for Green & Blue. Colors always (so far anyway) work well for me. Here are the entries for last week’s Product / Label. Anyone can join in, and I hope you give it a try!! We would love more people playing with us! Details are at this link above.

I have news for you … I have an opportunity to go to a healing workshop.Â My brother unfortunately cannot go and he kindly offered me his spot.Â I am thrilled!!Â I will be gone Sunday through Thursday and Friday is my hospital day for the Remicade. I have not been gone for 4 nights in at least 11 1/2 years.Â Either I will set up simple posts so you can remember me or I will actually skip some days for the first time since I started blogging about a year and a half ago.Â This will give me the rest and rejuvenation time I have so much needed.Â Thank you for coming by!

This image is for the Pet Monologues which is the blog which I directed you to showing that incredible video about the lion hugging the woman who rescued him. Here is that other lion video I told you about the other day. This video is absolutely amazing!! If you loved that lion video I showed you before – and who didn’t? Then you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this video … it is utterly amazing … some of us have cried from the beauty. I know I could put the video here … but it slows things down more – so I wanted to link you to it. It will open in a new window.

Right now there is a post about Preniptutuals and dog weddings – check it out! This is those great photos with the bears. There is a funny story about a bear today. Also they highlight art, poems and more that showcase animals every week. You can see their blog here. And this is the post for this particular challenge. I hope you enjoy the images there!! Here is a wonderful post about Polar Bears being designated endangered – check it out! Anyone can join in this fun here too!! They put up a few of the images and then have links to the rest of the sites â€¦ perhaps you will feel moved to participate!

Myfanwy’s Nuvo Felt has given me the Brilliante Blog Award. Thank you so much – it is a wonderful award. Check outÂ Myfanwyâ€™s great blog if you havenâ€™t. This award is for having a Brilliante Blog and I am thrilled! Thank you, Myfanwy!

Here are the rules for the nominees:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you

3) Nominate 7 other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Here are some lovely, lovely images from Myfanwyâ€™s Blog (used with permission).

OK – now it is time to make awards to other blogs – choosing only 7 is difficult – there are so many wonderful ones out there!!Â Many of those I would ask were chosen at the same time I was … Each of these are different and unique and worth visiting.Â As one criteria I made share people tended to post at least once a week and that has knocked out a lot of my choicesÂ …Â There are so so many wonderful blogs!!Â Here is a small sampling of blogs deserving of this award!!

Each monthÂ Worldwide Women Artists Online (WWAO) have an exhibit (online of course) of membersâ€™ work based on a theme. This month isÂ Wild. I encourage you to go on over and look at this great exhibit! I didn’t show the whole exhibit as I have before … I am sure it made the blog slower to load and it usually took me an hour to prepare …. better for you to just go view!!

Wild, September WWAO Exhibit

Besides being in the online exhibit, this is alsoÂ listed as an ACEO in my Etsy Shop. Here isÂ my Etsy Shop. If you would prefer this in a different size, let me know and I will do one up for you!! Each of the paintings or items in the show can be purchased. Thank you for looking at my being showcased!!

WWAO on the site says â€œWorldwide Women Artists is an international collective of women artists showing and selling our work through the worldwide web. As women artists, we give birth to our ideas in a variety of styles and media. We embrace the diversity of each otherâ€™s work, celebrating the joy of creating our art and sharing it with the world. We welcome female visual artists from all over the world who create and sell their own original art.â€

Illustration Friday has a challenge every week. This week is Clique. Notice this Clique is not so beautiful as those who are following their own dreams and paths. Those in the Clique are actually the same as the others … they are beautiful too … but their inability to be themselves makes them shine less … there is no room for their light. Notice that those not in the Clique (most of us) actually make lovely patterns with our dancing and dreaming.Â And the best part of all?Â Anyone from the Clique, at any time, can choose to start following their own light and let their truth and beauty show. Shine On!! Â Illustration Friday is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! I encourage you to check it out! Lots of fun people and paintings! Thank you for stopping by!

I like to enter the 2 Things Challenge each week. This week is Product / Label. This is my entry for Product & Label – I think it works – do you? … Perhaps I should explain it – though all of you seem to get it without my doing that!! These are products that are labeled – you can see those are labels on the cans, yes?Â Here are the entries for last week’s Old / Fashion. Anyone can join in, and I hope you give it a try!! We would love more people playing with us! Details are at this link above.

Today was another day of the AWE Project (Artists Window Exhibit) and building the Creative Economy … and exhaustion.Â There were 4 separate trips out to do these things … (I do best with one trip or perhaps 2 for my health) … and in those 4 trips there were at least 8 stops.Â Â Â Given that stores are in the project, we need to make sure there are artists in there … so that was a lot of today … doing those kind of things. So I am quite done in – so I hope you forgive a short post and will keep coming back!!

The TV Show featuring both the AWE Project (Artists Window Exhibit) and 3 individual artists (including Susan Elkin and myself … was today. It is over!! I was slated to go last – I was pretty scared … and I got there and found out we were talking first for 10 minutes about the AWE project and… as coordinator … I was expectd to do the talking!!! ACK!! But I rose to the occasion – enough any way Now I am exhausted. Many of you know I have a physical illness … and it was all too much … but I will rest and recover..

I will share some of notes with you – ones that I took with me to remind me what I wanted to say … by the way, these are the images that I had them put up on the screen (one after the other.) I thought you would like a peek into some of what I shared. Thank you for coming by!!